Conventionally, as a reproduction method for data of a moving image or the like via a network, there is known progressive download in which data is downloaded and reproduced using an HTTP protocol.
In the case where a plurality of terminals download and reproduce moving image data over a network by progressive download at the same time, even if a certain band is ensured for them, some terminals may not be capable of reproducing smoothly the moving image data.
This is because, in the progressive download, the band is evenly distributed to a plurality of terminals. That is, as a result of evenly distributing the band to the plurality of terminals, the band is insufficient for moving image data encoded at a high rate and the band is excessive for moving image data encoded at a low rate. Thus, in the terminal that reproduces the moving image data encoded at a high rate, a data accumulation amount in a buffer becomes insufficient and the reproduction thereof may be interrupted.
As a conventional technique that solves such a problem, there is a static band control between terminals. In this technique, a band is set for each terminal according to an encoding rate of moving image data scheduled to be downloaded by each terminal. That is, in a single network, a sufficiently wide band is allocated to the terminal that reproduces moving image data encoded at a high rate for reproduction thereof and a relatively narrow band is allocated to the terminal that reproduces a moving image encoded at a low rate.
Further, as a document relating to the progressive download, there is Patent Document 1 below. This Patent Document 1 describes that, when a reception terminal is instructed to perform progressive download, a resource (bus band, CPU, etc.) used in another stream processing in the reception terminal is dynamically allocated to progressive download processing and a part not yet downloaded is downloaded at a high speed to prevent the reproduction from being interrupted.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-188981